


With mighty roots / Beneath the mold

by duckmoles



Series: the journey home [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aftermath, Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Finding a home, Gen, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), thor is sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 09:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14614881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckmoles/pseuds/duckmoles
Summary: The Asgardian refugee ship makes its way to Earth.(Or: Thor finds that he still has something to lose.)





	With mighty roots / Beneath the mold

The ship registers on the Wakandan space monitoring systems – furiously upgraded by the combined efforts of the remaining scientists the country has to offer, Rocket Raccoon, Nebula, Thor, Bruce Banner, and Tony Stark – halfway between Pluto and Neptune. There is a brief five hours of complete and utter panic as they try to figure out what they’re going to do with another alien invasion so soon after Thanos, with every country decimated and still scrabbling for relief.

They manage to get a hold of Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, and James Rhodes, who have traveled back to the US to meet with the tatters of the UN, Congress, the newly inaugurated president, and various other foreign dignitaries. Upon hearing the news, Tony Stark lets out an exhausted sigh and jumps on the royal ship Shuri had lent them, strapping himself in and anxiously touching the reactor at his chest. Steve Rogers, after apologizing to everyone assembled, follows him.

Thor just swings Stormbreaker and starts on the long journey to Wakanda.

He hasn’t seen Earth like this in a long while – greenery and deep blue water flashing underneath him, wind whipping through his hair, the salty sea brine of the ocean. He doesn’t know what to think about the news of the ship. On one hand – Thanos. On the other – he doubts that any alien civilization has recovered fast enough to launch an all-out assault.

He arrives in Birnin Zana in the early morning, when the sun still hasn’t risen over the Wakandan landscape. The city is still in mourning, the people still dressed in black, the streets silent and empty, and it’s easy to make his way to the royal observatory.

Early in the cool Wakandan morning, with dew still lingering on the trees and grass, Thor barges into the throne room and announces, bowing to Shuri slightly in apology, that the ship is an Asgardian ship and that there’s no need to worry. His face is lit up, lighter than it has ever been since Thanos, a smile beaming on his face.

“They made it,” he had breathed, looking at the displays in the observatory. When Thanos’s ships had loomed over them, he’d told Valkyrie, told Korg and Miek and Heimdall and Loki, to take the Asgardians they could and run. Heimdall and Loki hadn’t made it. He could only hope that the others did.

Well now – now he doesn’t have to hope.

“Please,” Thor says - pleads. “There are very few of us left.”

Shuri blinks at him. “I can’t believe you’d think I would refuse,” she says. She sounds exhausted. They all do, but now Thor has this – his people are alive.

“Let the Asgardians in, when they come,” she announces to the room at large: the two chieftains that could be spared from the tribes for a brief moment, a man acting as advisor, holding his daughter in his arms. “The Earth is in no position to refuse refuge.”

 

A few days later, Thor stands on the outskirts of the city, at the barrier.

He had gotten in contact with the ship – if it could be called that, small and functionless as it was – as it had passed Mars. The Valkyrie’s voice had rung out: “We’re fine, mostly. We've been hurtling through space hoping to reach Earth and half of our people disintegrated over a month ago, but we’re fine.”

Thor wondered how many of them were left. There couldn’t have been more than a few thousand. There would be a funeral, he thought. The greatest Earth had ever seen. They would gather up the survivors and drink and feast until they could bear their grief, and then they would continue rebuilding.

“Thank you,” he had said. “I’ll be there to greet you when you arrived.”

It’s a rainy day. Rogers stands beside him, as well as the chief W’Kabi and a few of his people.

When the ship arrives, they are silent. It lowers itself through the clouds like a heaving leviathan, big and dark and overwhelming.

The entirety of his home is on that ship, Thor marvels. His entire civilization, confined on something that would barely last a single wormhole jump. His eye aches, some sort of phantom pain rearing its head up as he watches as the barrier shimmers and then disappears.

The ship continues lowering, but a side door opens and a figure jumps out, her cape flaring out behind her as she lands on the ground with a roll. “Your majesty,” the Valkyrie says as she stands.

Thor can’t help but smile. “It’s good to see you,” he says.

She doesn’t look well. Losing nearly everything you’ve ever known – again – does that to a person.

“There’s a lot you missed,” Thor says. “Thanos did this – killed off half the population for his own sick means. He killed Loki. Heimdall. The other Asgardians that didn’t leave with you and the others. I got a new weapon. And an eye.”

Her face is grim and silent. “We have a lot of talking to do,” she says.

“After,” Thor says. “We have to get everyone settled in.”

When the ship lands, the main doors open immediately, and Thor sees Korg stumbling out, holding Miek in his arms. Behind him are the survivors.

Thor climbs onto the ship and greets each and every one of them as they step off. When he has to, he comforts them, reassuring them of Earth and all it had to offer, reminding them that their loved ones live on in Valhalla. He hefts up a young girl who had lost her entire family on his hip. She buries her face into his chest. It’s exhausting, draining, and Thor feels as if it’s the first hours after Thanos, when the entire world seemed unreal, like he’d wake up any moment and find himself on Asgard, awoken by the rising sun and the bustling noises of the city. 

On the ground, the Valkyrie, Steve Rogers, and W’Kabi and his men help guide them to where they’ll be staying. They’d set up a small camp at the edge of the city, where modernity turned to rolling grasslands. It wasn’t much, with their limited time, manpower, and resources, but it would be enough.

The Asgardians seem endless, but all too soon all of them are off the ship and walking across the landscape. Thor blinks his eyes and remembers the feasts of the harvest time, the roaring bonfires and smell of meat and liquor, tens of thousands gathering in the streets to celebrate the joys of the season with the entire country. Thor would go out with the Warriors Three, Sif, and Loki and feast with the rest of Asgard, enjoying the bounty and prosperity of their world. Now. . .

The young girl clings to his neck. She seems to have fallen asleep. He pets her hair as he steps inside the ship to check to see if there’s anyone else.

There’s so much work to do, he thinks. There are only a few thousand of them left, most of them the old or the young. Thor wonders what Odin would do. He wonders what Loki would do.

Stark and Rogers will go back to their tour around the world soon, meeting with various rulers and leaders to coordinate the rebuilding efforts, figure out a way to compensate for the loss of billions. Shuri will continue working for Wakanda and the legacy her brother had left behind. Romanoff will help each of them negotiate. Banner will work in the Wakandan labs.

Thor will. . .

Thor will rule his people, best as he can. He will meet with Earth’s leaders, teach them about the world beyond their atmosphere. He will help find a place for the Asgardians on this devastated planet.

The girl he holds on to stirs, eyes opening wetly.

Thor holds her tighter in his arms. “Let’s bring you home,” he says.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't stop thinking about the Asgardians or Thor.


End file.
